WARNING: This article may cause serious cravings!
Moving passed my first year in to my second year there are a few things that I have realized. First, I should always do my readings for class. Second, I can not go shopping every time I am downtown. Third, it is time that I move passed the comfort of Dunkin Donuts and find the best donut shops in Chicago. With some help from some friends and my pure curiosity to find the best donut shops in the city, I was able to find four that I thought everyone deserved to know about.
Let’s start with the first Donut Shop I tried: Stan’s Donuts. Stan’s started in 1963 in Los Angeles California. Although it started in LA nearly 50 years ago, the owners wanted to bring that California style donut to the Midwest. Not only does Stan’s have delicious donuts, but it also has coffee, bagels, and gelato. Stan’s has all the standard donuts you would hope to see in a donut shop like glazed, chocolate cake, and vanilla sprinkled cake. Aside from having amazing standard donuts, their specialty donuts, like their Toffee Cake donut, are to die for. If you are looking for a wide assortment of awesome donuts, Stan’s is your place.
The next stop I made on my donut shop finding adventure was The Doughnut Vault. Let me just start by saying that this place is just about the most adorable donut shop I have ever been too. I dropped in to one of the Vault’s three locations throughout the city. The shop, nestled in an adorable one room location, has an amazing outdoor space where you can enjoy your morning treat. The shop has three locations throughout the city: Canal, Franklin, and the Vault van that travels around the city. Unlike some of the other shops I visited, the Doughnut Vault has daily specials, and a changing menu. The menu is quite a bit smaller than some of the other shops around the city, but that does not take away from the overall experience. Quality over quantity, right?
The third shop I visited was Firecakes Doughnuts. Similar to Doughnut Vault, Firecakes has a hand full of their special doughnuts that they serve each day. Although their selection is a little larger than Doughnut Vault, they keep their menu at around 12-14 doughnut options a day. Not only do they have their special doughnuts everyday, they also have seasonal specialties including Peanut Butter and Jelly and their delicious Apple Cinnamon Fritter doughnuts. Firecakes has two locations throughout the city: one on Hubbard Street and one on Clark. If you like the mixture of chocolate and espresso, their Valrhona Chocolate & Espresso Cream doughnut is out of this world.
The last stop on my Saturday Doughnut expedition was Glazed and Infused. Although they only have a few options of doughnuts to choose from, theirs tasted the best to me. My favorite part about Glazed and Infused was that they had not only mini doughnuts, but also doughnut holes. After trying doughnuts that were the size of my face, trying a mini doughnut felt just right. Glazed and Infused had the most locations out of all the doughnut shops I ventured into. Their locations include: W Fulton Market, North LaSalle, Delaware Place, E Hubbard Street, and W Armitage Ave in Lincoln Park. If you want a little taste of heaven Glazed and Infused is a great option.
After a full day of walking around this amazing city in search of the best doughnut shops I could find I figured out three things. First, it is really not a good idea to attempt to eat a doughnut or two at every shop you go into, a few bites will suffice. Secondly I figured out that there is a whole world beyond Dunkin Doughnuts (WHO KNEW?!). Lastly, drink a lot of water if you want to take a whole day to find the best doughnut shops, because you will end up tired and dehydrated after your sugar rush wears off. During my adventure I was reminded that not only are there tons of awesome doughnut shops in Chicago, but there are so many amazing places to eat and visit if you allow yourself to explore this city.